The dossier
Born 1985. Co-founded OpenAI in 2015 alongside Elon Musk, Greg Brockman, and others. Was fired by the board in November 2023, returned 5 days later after a staff revolt, and emerged with more power than before. Now leads the most valuable private company in history with a reported $157B valuation. Simultaneously beloved by techno-optimists and despised by AI safety researchers who think he’s moving too fast. Writes cryptic blog posts that send the internet into a frenzy for 72 hours at a time.
Career timeline — highlights and lowlights
2015
Co-founds OpenAI Origin
Non-profit with Elon Musk. Pinky promise to never commercialize.
2019
Converts to “capped profit” Drama
Musk exits the board. Tension quietly begins.
2022
ChatGPT launches Peak moment
100M users in 60 days. Sam becomes most famous CEO in tech.
Nov ’23
Board fires him with 4 words Biggest drama
“Not consistently candid.” Returns 5 days later. Board dissolved. More powerful than before.
2024
Musk sues. Ilya exits. For-profit restructure. Still messy
Multiple high-profile departures. Legal battles. Restructuring into fully for-profit entity.
2025
GPT-5, $6.6B raise, $157B valuation Glow up
Arguably the most powerful person in tech. Cryptic blog posts keep the world guessing.
Receipt archive — things he said that aged interestingly
“OpenAI is not trying to build a for-profit company or to ever do an IPO.”
“I don’t have much equity in OpenAI and I never will.”
“I think we may be close to something like AGI. I am genuinely scared.”
“The intelligence age will be as transformative as the agricultural and industrial revolutions.”